RARE MAGAZINE: Early William Shatner TV Guide Profile!

There are actors. There are stars. There are icons. And then there’s William Shatner. For Shatner cannot be contained by simple labels. And his status in pop culture grows in height and breadth every day. Had he only played “Captain Kirk” on “Star Trek” his impact would be massive. Had he only done the work before that. He’d be remembered. Had he only done beloved “bad” talk-sung recordings of popular songs, he’d be good for a laugh or three. But Shatner is all those things and more. And he just doesn’t stop working.

One of the first portrayals of this side of Shatner, comes in a 1968 TV Guide profile (below) entitled “Intergalactic Golden Boy”. This article shows us the always busy Shatner. Fielding calls from talk shows and his agent. Talk about recording songs. (Yup, THOSE songs!) And, only then, turning to the TV Guide interviewer to answer some questions. Also very much like the Shatner of today, he goes on to be very revealing about his personal life. Taking with real emotion about the break up of his marriage and the death fo his father.

Shatner may have been very unsure of himself and his career at this time. But, in hindsight, this article tells one and all exactly where he’d go. And what he’d become … a legend!